Opinion: The Not-So-Late Jay Leno

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So far, the spin is casting Jay Leno’s move to the 10 p.m. weeknight slot on NBC as a bold -- or maybe ultimately foolhardy -- prime-time gambit, and of course as a clever way to save on the cost of producing all those expensive dramas with all those expensive dramatic actors on the payroll.

I’m not seeing it like that. Ten p.m. Pacific, 9 o’clock central? This is the tipping point, the final acknowledgment that the baby boomers are toddling off into elder-hood.

Leno at 10? From ‘’The Tonight Show’’ to ‘’The Evening Show’’? Pretty soon the nation will be lining up for the seniors’ Early Bird Dinner Special at 4 p.m., and then coming home to fall asleep right after the Leno monologue, if there is one on the new show, and finally waking up at 3 a.m. to a screaming bladder and screaming infomercials.

EPA/Brendan McDermid